Tag Archives: Streets

The weather here in Guangxi Province has been spectacular: Warm and in the 70s to low 80s the entire time. Even if there was rain, no umbrella was necessary because the rain was so warm and evaporated rapidly from our skin. We great underestimated how nice the weather was going to be and pack too heavy of clothes for most days. A late-afternoon shower was mandatory after our adventures due to all the massive amount of sweat we accumulated. I loved the heat and did not complain a bit. I just did not like the large moisture droplets constantly running down my back. But at least our long sleeves helped protect our bodies from having too much sun. Even though, our faces got a bit too much.

Today was a day I have dreamed about since we first decided to travel to China and we had watched all the documentaries we could on China: Floating down the Li River. There were a few trips offered: One was to take a boat to the town of Fuli, we shop for as long as we wanted and take the bus back to Yangshuo. The other was to have the boat take us to Fuli, stop for an half an hour and return via the same boat to Yangshuo. The last trip was to rent bicycles, have them put on the raft, stop at Fuli for an half an hour, continue down river to a village call LiuGong and then bicycle back to Fonglou. Of course, we chose the longest and most adventurous route possible. So Luna arranged to have our rented bicycles driven via a Tuk Tuk, three wheeled motorcycle, to the Li River in Yangshuo and a taxi driver took us. The boat was a big, blue plastic raft with a weed-whacker as an engine. It was such a blast!

Nathan, Zachary and I sat in the front with the bikes and Briana and Mike sat right behind us. It took about 45 minutes to get to the town of Fuli. Fuli is an ancient town known for it painted fans. As you can see in the photos below, I found a keeper. The lady who sold it to me said it was painted by her 80 year old grandfather. I also purchased a painting of the Li River, which was done by her father. Both are amazing pieces. I was so thrilled with them. (My living room is going to become a China art display by the time I get home between art I have purchased and my photos.)

A half an hour went by fast. Our boat driver found us and we returned to the boat and continued down the river for over an hour to the village of LiuGong. (The only challenge on the boat was making sure none of the water got in your mouth. Unfortunately, Nathan and Briana got a mouthful each and on the bike ride paid for it. Thankfully, we did carry lots of toilet paper and Pepto Bismol tablets. They were miserable.)

We did not expect to find much in LiuGong, so we weren’t shocked when we got there. Our driver did say the so-called restaurant at the dock was good, so we had a bite to eat before we headed out on the bikes. Lunch was good. But the conditions were deplorable. The water buffalo at the docking area was the one that charged Mike. He tried to touch it and it charged him. Thank goodness Mike is quick. Beside Nathan and Briana’s queasy tummies, the bike ride was so worth it! They even had a great time, despite it all. The countryside was jaw-droppingly beautiful and the people we passed along the way were so friendly…

Here are photos of the day

…Click on any image to enlarge. Or better yet… click on the first photo and scroll through them all.

Tuk Tuk and our rented bicycles

(Photo by Zachary)

(Photo by Zachary)

Local Fish Market in Yangshuo next to the Li River

Li River with the tuk tuk and our bikes

This was the little boy from the other day. Mike was trying to show him how to skip rocks.

Our driver and raft…

Loading the bikes…

Nathan and I on the boat…

Off we go…

Li River

Mike and Briana with Driver (Photo by Briana)

Briana, me, Zachary, Mike and Nathan on the Li River…

Li River

Banyan Tree at a village along the Li River

Li River

Li River

Li River

Coming into the town of Fuli…

Water Buffalo

Water Buffalo

Nathan

Briana

Zachary

Baby Water Buffalo…

Fuli

Butterfly

Fuli

Fuli

Fan Shop in Fuli (Photo by Mike)

Fan Shop in Fuli (Photo by Mike)

The fan I purchased…

Fan Shop in Fuli – their kitchen (Photo by Mike)

Fan Shop in Fuli (Photo by Mike)

Fuli – See the mirrors over the doors? Feng Shui Corrections..

Fuli – See the mirrors over the door? Another Feng Shui Correction..

Town of Fuli, looking back toward the boat (Photo by Mike)

Town of Fuli (Photo by Mike)

Town of Fuli (Photo by Mike)

Town of Fuli (Photo by Mike)

Town of Fuli (Photo by Mike)

Town of Fuli (Photo by Mike)

Town of Fuli

Returning to the boat…

Town of Fuli

Town of Fuli

Town of Fuli

Town of Fuli

Town of Fuli

Driver took our picture…

Driver took our picture…

Mike… about to get chased.

Leaving Fuli, our driver…

Li River

The river, during the wet season, is typically 5 to 6 meters higher…

Li River

Li River

Li River

This cave was someone’s home…

Temple in LiuGong along the Li River

Arriving at LiuGong

Village of LiuGong

This was the water buffalo Mike tried to touch before it charged him…

Unloading our boat… (Photo by Mike)

Fishing farms along the Li River…

Village of LiuGong

Village of LiuGong

Village of LiuGong (Photo by Mike)

Village of LiuGong

Temple in LiuGong (Photo by Mike)

Temple in LiuGong (Photo by Mike)

How about this electrical box… think its safe? (Photo by Mike)

Village of LiuGong

Zachary found this owl in the wood of our lunch table (Photo by Zachary)

Oh… did we have the plans to conquer Beijing on this day. (yes, sarcasm) We thought we had it all handled. Ha! What a joke! Quickly, in less than two hours, we discovered there was no way we would even see half of what we originally planned on this whole trip. There’s no getting around easily in Beijing. The traffic is atrocious, the buses have you fighting to find a place (forget fighting for seats, just plan on packing the walkways) and the mass people in Beijing for Spring Festival (Chinese New Year–the number one holiday of the year for China), our day that had plans on seeing Beijing’s Walking Street “Qianmen”, Temple of Heaven, Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City, turned into much less. Plus, the sear amount of stuff to see at each location is overwhelming. For example, one can easily spend three to four days going through the Forbidden City. The Qianmen walking street alone took us over three hours to walk only a few blocks.

Funny Note: I actually got my butt felt up by an old China man. I thought it was one of the kids, so did not turn around right away. It didn’t stop, so I turned around. And that little creep fled forward up the walkway and out the door. I was shocked. If I would have had not been so surprised, I would have belted him. But he was quick and I was speechless.

As you can tell in the photos, the weather was very cold out. We saw, for the first time, lakes so frozen over that people were skating and playing on them. It was pretty neat. Our first stop of the day was to walk Qianmen Street, also called the Five Archways Street. It has been the most prosperous street and market for hundreds of years in Beijing. I found a photo in the Zhengyangmen Museum of the street some years prior. It is included in the photos. Neat difference. Our next stop was to cross the street and head into the south gate which used to be part of the wall that used to surround old Beijing. No single portion of the wall, except for this gate exists today. It has all be torn down. In place of the walls are streets. Kinda sad after seeing Xi’an’s perfectly in place. These walls are so impressive.

Beijing is laid out perfectly North to South. You enter all the parks from the South and exit to the North. There are exits on the West and East and you can enter the North entrance. But it is a rough to view entering backwards. If you do ever make it here, take the time to enter from the South. It will pay off with the time loss always having to turn around to look where you have been. We discovered this on another day at the Temple of Heaven. After getting through the gate, we had to go through security to entering into Tiananmen. After nine-eleven in the US, China has fenced off the square and now you have to go through security. It is like TSA on steroids. As Americans, our entry was easy. We found out later, certain religious types are the ones they are concerned about. The kids witnessed one of the people causing the buzzer to go off and getting slammed into the wall and frisked.

Tiananmen Square has Chairman Mao’s Mausoleum. Zhengyangmen–a museum, the square, statues and a marker placed in the middle of the square in honor of the people that is heavily guarded. Our friend told us he used to go with friends and play cards on the steps before nine-eleven. No more. Also, Mao’s outrageously huge mausoleum is heavily guarded. No access was allowed during the festival. As we were standing on the south-side of the mausoleum, we were approached by a man who told us Zhengyangmen was opened to foreigners today only. He told us there are few days where it is open to anybody that is not Chinese. So we took him up on helping us gain entry and we went in. I found a gold mine of art that was for sale. Mike did a fabulous job, as usual, at negotiating for four pieces of art that represent the four seasons of the year. They started at 6000RMB and he got them for 1000RMB. They are beautiful. Can’t wait to hang them when I get home. In this building we found some neat old photos which I have included a few in the gallery below. Otherwise, the building was nice but nothing super impressive. The art was the winner though.

Once done here, we left and headed to the north-side of the mausoleum to see the infamous Tiananmen Square. It wasn’t as big as I thought it was going to be. I was told it was a sea of brick. Nope. I guess too many darn people to feel that. I do see why it was once used for demonstrations. It’s in the center of everything. All the major sites in Beijing surround it. From the north-side you can see the gate that leads into the Forbidden City, or as they call it the Palace Museum. We had not time left to enter, so we took a photo of the south entry and walked the street to the west up to the north exit of Forbidden City with the hopes of entering the Jingshan Park. Interesting walk. We were told on the left of the street is where all the important people of China live. We didn’t see anybody per se. But it was still fun trying to see past the gates and try to catch a glimpse. By the time we reached the north exit of Forbidden City, the park we’re heading to closed for the night. So we headed back to the Orchid for a good dinner and a full night of sleep. Enjoy the photos.

…Click on any image to enlarge. Or better yet… click on the first photo and scroll through them all

Our breakfast table at the Orchid. Miss their breakfast. It was yummy.

On the way to Qianmen Walking Street…

Spring Festival Decorations

Photos, anyone?

Briana, Zachary and Nathan

Archway at the Northside of Qianmen Walking Street..

A yesteryear photo of the same arch…

It was a bit crowded today…

Thank goodness for Starbucks!

Qianmen Walking Street

Kids posed with this nice couple. We asked this time!

Qianmen Walking Street

This is China Red Glass. Beautiful stuff but very expensive.

Qianmen Walking Street

Qianmen Walking Street

A side street off Qianmen Walking Street

South Wall Gate leading to Tiananmen Square

Going thru the gate with Zhengyangmen in view

Nathan and Zachary with a friend in front of Zhengyangmen (Photo by Mike)

Thought this guy was cute…

Zhengyangmen

Zhengyangmen – old photo of it

Mike and the kids posing as we enter Zhengyangmen

Zhengyangmen

Goofy girl popping up in my photo taking attempts…

This was one of many narrow stepped steep steps in Zhengyangmen (Photo by Mike)

This was a replica of one of the two temples that used to exist here before they were removed in the late 60’s

One of the painting I did not get to take home. Love the Yin Yang feel with the Koi.

Chairman Mao’s Mausoleum – can you say monstrous?

One of the many statues around his Mausoleum

Nathan, Zachary and Briana

Another statue – these were larger than life, very impressive

the kids again on the north side

Statue on the south side

Tiananmen Square

Tiananmen Square

Tiananmen Square

Tiananmen Square

Tiananmen Square

From Tiananmen Square looking at the north entrance gate to the Forbidden City

Mike received his driver’s license the other day. I video’d his driving in downtown Suzhou. Didn’t realize the sound was off until the end, so I used music to fill the silence. Make sure you don’t concentrate on the car in front. Look around on the sides and see all the people and bikes. Chinese are the most slow, passive aggressive drivers ever…

Since this was our last day in SD, we decided to go to Needles in Custer State Park and then rock hound at the location the rock shop in Keystone had suggested we go. In the morning, Mike and the kids took a small break in the morning for Zachary to play with his RC monster truck. While the two of them were doing that. Nathan and Briana found some friends… a couple of horses.

Needles is renowned for some of the best climbing in the nation. Mike told me it’s a climber’s paradise in the Black Hills. The drive up to the top was a narrow road full of skinny tunnels carved out of the granite hillsides. At the top of the Needles pass, the kids and Mike had a great time climbing around on the rocks. A local climber was quick to come over and state Briana needed to be harnessed up. He went back to his car to see if he had a harness her size. Unfortunately, he didn’t. He had planned, of course with our permission, to scale the wall, hook up and let her climb to her content. He made sure to tell me to get her geared up and climbing. He liked her enthusiasm and desire to climb.

Mike used to climb before we met. I’m not much for heights, or better yet for the idea of hitting the ground. He did find good climbers in the kids. Maybe he can gear them up and take them up to Unicorn by Mt Rainier. I will take care of the lunch and take photos. The area was spectacular with all the granite needles and spires that abounded the landscape.

My favorite part of the day was the drive back down. Wahoo! What a blast! Highly recommended. The Peter Norbeck roadway is a must drive for anyone who loves to wind up and down narrow roadways. I had so much fun. If I had known about that road earlier in the week, we would’ve drove it a few more times.

From the Peter Norbeck Road, we headed up a small road toward a town called Mystic. We were told there was a mine with huge sludge piles full of rocks to collect. Sadly, we were led astray. It was a neat area, but no rocks. About two miles up, we came to a gate. The car in front of us had gotten through. Darn! Why not us? Then Mike came up with a brilliant idea. He had recognized he gate mechanism as the same on his mom’s gate. Since we had her remote, we pressed the button and wala! the gate opened.

We thought for sure we would find the sludge piles, but no, all we found were a bunch of vacation homes and a creek. Poo! But at least we won’t wonder what we might have missed if we didn’t get through the gate. Word to the wise, make sure you reprogram your gate to a special code if you don’t want the Zimmers coming through. Ha!

We made it back to town late, but early enough to have a nice dinner at Desperados. We got to hear about a few ghost stories and a few places to visit the next time we come back. And come back to SD, we will!

…Click on any image to enlarge. Or better yet… click on the first photo and scroll through them all.